Work glove



p 1942. w. o. wELLs, JR., EI'AL 5,507

` WORK GLOVE Filed Jan. 17, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 man 452 s JR., AMMsN,

p 8, 1942. w. o. wELLs, JR., EI'AL 3 5 .WORK GLOVE Filed Jan. 17, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Sept. 8, 1942 William O. Wells,. Jr., and Arthur H. Mason Evanston, Ill., assignors to Wells Lamont Smith Corporation, Chicago, III., a Corporation of Minnesota Application January 17, 1941, Serial No. ?74,931

4- Claims.

This invention relates to work gloves of the type having a leather front and a fabric back, and is directed particularly to an improvement in the Construction' of the index finger of such gloves.

In gloves of the type under consideration the index finger thereof is subject to particularly hard. wear. In the past it has. been the practice to secure the leather front thereof to the fabric back in an overlapping stitched seam at, or slightly rearwardly of, the media line along the side edge portion of the finger adjacent the thumb. It has been found, however, that with such. an arrangement the leather facedarea is insufi'icient, and that exposed areas of the cloth finger back are subject to considerable wear and deteriorate readily because of their lesser durability than the leather areas.

While it would be possible to construct the entire back portion as well' as the front portion of the index finger of leather, such Construction is not desirable for several reasons. In. the frst place the primary object of using a cloth back for work gloves is to efiect a cost saving by reason of the cheapness of fabric as compared with leather; Secondly, an index finger constructed throughout of leather would' be substantially stifi er than one having a fabric back so that the index finger could not be' bent as easily and to the same degree'.

The main object of the present invention is. to increase the durability of a work glove index fin'- ger of the type referred to, and' to accomplsh this Without appreciably increasing the stiiTness thereof and the cost of the glove. To this end certain limited areas' of the cloth fingerback which are particularly vulnerable to wear are reinforced by leather. The added leather portion of the index finger does* not extend the full height of the finger. It will, however; include the area of the middle joint of the indexfinger, and there may be also a further leather portion longitudinally spaced from the first portion in the finger tip area of the back. The leather finger back reinforcement. need not extend' across the entire width of the cloth finger back, and for purposes of economy preferably will' not do so. The reinforcement of the finger back at the second finger joint area desirably will be formed integrally with the leather front section of the glove, and will` take the form of a flap projecting laterally beyond the side edge thereof at an intermediate point of its leng-th. Where leather is to be employed at the back of the index finger at' the-tip area the same may be formed as' a further fiap integral" With the leather glove' front, but in some cases the same may be formed of a separate piece of leather.

Theinvention will be understood by' reference to' theseveral' illustrative embodi-ments thereof shown' in the accompan-ying drawings.

In such drawingsz- Fig. 1 is a back View of a combinatonleather and fabric glove embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken alongthe line of the second finger;

Fig. 3 is" a cross-section of the index finger taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 isa fragmentary perspective taken from the rea-r of the index finger;

Fig. 5 isa plan View of the leather blank from which the front portion of the glove is formed;

Fig. 6 is a plan View of the fabric blank from which the back-section of 'the glove is formed;

Fig. 7 is a View of a leather blank which may be employed to reinforce the back of the finger p Fig. 8 is a back View of a combination leather and fabric glove generally similar to that of Fig.. 1, but showing a modification of the invention;

Fig. 9 is' a fragmentary perspective view looking from the back of the index finger of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a plan View of the leather blank from which the' front is formed;

Fig. 11 is a plan View of the fabric blank from which the back' is formed; and' Fig. 12 is a view of a leather blank which may be employed to reinforce the back tips of the fingers other than the index finger.

The glove shown in Fig. 1 includes a leather front portion formed' from a blank 20, as shown in Fig. 5 and a cloth' back 2| as shown in Fig. 6. The front and back sections are secured by suitable stitching' at the wrist to a gauntlet cufi 23 of suitable stiff fabric. The leather front section is in the main of conventional pattern, and' has formed integral-ly` therewith index finger front 24, little finger front 25, and the inner face 26 of the thumb. The two middle finger fronts 21 and 28 will be composed of a separate piece of leather secured to the main front section 20 across the bases of the finger by a seam 29 as indicated in Fig. 2. The knuckle area of the fabric back 2| may be reinforced by a leather knuckle strap' 30, and the glove may be gathered at the wrist by an elastic back strap SI. As shown in Fig. 2,. the leather front may have a suitable fabric lining 32. Small leather pieces 33 of the form shown in Fig. 7 may be provided at the back of any or all of the finger tips..

The glove as so far described is generally conventional in design. The particular feature of the invention involves the provision of a leather portion which will reinforce the fabric back 35 of the index finger. As best shown in Fig. 5, such additional leather portion will comprise a projecting flap 34 integral with and projecting outwardly from side edge 38 of the leather front section 20. such flap will be so located lengthwise of edge 30 as to cover the portion of the index finger at the second joint, and the same will be spaced below the upper end of the index finger. As best shown in Fig. 3, flap 34 does not extend completely across the width of the back of the index finger. Preferably such flap is provided with a curved edge. The edge of flap 34 and the edge portions 38 of the leather front section 20 may be joined to the back by a continuous line of stitching 36.

With the arrangement of flap` 34 as shown, the index finger is rendered substantially more durable at the back area thereof, while by reason of the limitation in the size of flap 34 both lengthwise and widthwise of the finger, such glove finger may be readily bent when the hand is inserted. Through the use of flap 34 with the addition of the leather finger tip back 33, the index finger is adequately reinforced in all areas which are likely to experience any amount of wear.

The inventive arrangement has a further advantage over conventional fabric and leather gloves in that the line of stitching which joins the leather front and fabric back sections together is completely removed from the side area of the glove at, and for a substantial distance above and below, the second joint area of the index finger, and is located instead at the back area of the glove where there is little likelihood of the seam being subj ected to wear.

The second embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 9 to 12 includes a leather front section 40, as shown in Fig. 10, and a fabric back section 4| similar to back section 2l of the embodiment previously described. As in the previous embodiment, the leather front section has integral therewith a front index finger portion 44 and a front little finger portion 45. The second embodiment of the invention differs from the first in that there are two longitudinally spaced laterally projecting flaps 54 and 53 which, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, overlie and reinforce longitudinally spaced areas of the fabric back 55 of the index finger. Flap portion 53 overlies the back tip area of the finger, and flap 54 overlies the area of the fabric finger back at the area of the finger second joint. Preferably, and as shown, a continuous sinuous edge 51 extends along fiaps 53 and 54 and joins the main edge 58 of front 40 below flap 54. such shaping not only avoids objectionable sharp corners which are difficult to seam but enables the front portions 40 for a plurality of gloves to be laid out on a piece of leather with the edges thereof in nesting relation so as to conserve material.

It will be evident that flap 53 serves the same purpose as the separately formed leather backed finger tip reinforcement 33 of the glove shown in Fig. 1, and preferably the same extends completely across the width of back fabric portion 55 of the index finger. Flap 54 is' of lesser width than flap 53 and need extend only a portion of the way across the finger back, although preferably it will extend at least to, or slightly beyond, the middle back line of the index finger. A continuous line of stitching 55 extending along the sinuous edges 51 of fiaps 53 and 54 will serve to join such flaps to the overlying index finger fabric back 55, and will continue downwardly to join the lower edge portion 58 of the fabric front section 40 to the corresponding portions of the fabric back 4 l The cloth back tips of the two middle fingers and the little finger may be reinforced by leather coverings 59 of the form shown in Fig. 12.' The glove may be formed with a long gauntlet cuff as in the case of the glove of Fig. 1, but is here shown as having a relatively short cuff 60 of suitable stiff material.

It is to be observed that in neither form of the invention is the back of the index finger reinforced with leather throughout its entire length. As previously mentioned, this feature enables the index finger to be flexed more readily and at the same time provides a larger area of leather reinforcement than in pre-existing gloves wherein the leather front and fabric back sections are joined together at or adjacent the side edge of the glove. The fiaps 34 and 54 in the two embodiments of the invention are of course subject to variation as to position lengthwise of the glove. In both instances shown, the flap more or less centers on the base line of the fingers. The length of the fiaps is also subject to variation, although preferably the same should comprehend the back area of the index finger above the finger base line, including the second joint area, and should also include an area of the glove back located below the base line of the fingers. In both forms shown, it will be observed that flaps 34 and 54 both extend down to the knuckle line, but of course they may terminate somewhat above or below such line.

It is further to be understood that while the curved shape of the back reinforcing flap of the first embodiment and the two back reinzforcing fiaps of the second embodiment have definit'e advantages as above explained, the invention is not to be construed as limited thereto.

We claim:

1. A .combination work glove having a leather front part and a .cloth back part forming a glove body and an index finger extending upwardly from the body, a leather reinforcing flap integral with the ;front part at an intermediate area of its length and projecting laterally inwardly beyond the side of the glove, said flap overlapping the back part for a limited distance above and below the base line of the index finger and :for a substantial portion of the width of the index finger, the edge of the front part being located adjacent the side of the glove in the body below the flap and in at least the intermediate area of the index finger above the flap, and stitching joining the front and back parts extending along the edge of the flap and the edge of the front part below and above the flap.

2. A combination work glove having a leather front part and a cloth back part forming a glove body and -an index finger extending upwardly from the body, a leather reinforcing flap-integral with the front part at an intermediate area of its length and projecting laterally inwardly beyond the side of the glove, said flap overlapping the back part for a limited distance above and below the base line of the index finger and for a substantial portion of the width of the index finger, the edge of the front part in the body below the flap and in the index finger immediately 'above the flap being located adjacent the side of the glove, the flap being of curved shape, said flap at its lower end merging with the edge of the front part below the base line of the index finger in the body and at its upper end mergng with the edge of the front part at an intermediate point in the length of the index finger, and stitching joining the front and .back parts extending along the edge of the flap and the edge of the front part .below and above the flap.

3. A eombination work glove having a leather front part and a oloth :back part forming a glove body and an index finger extending upwardly from the body, a leather reinforcing flap integral with the front part at an intermediate area of its length and projecting laterally inwardly beyond the side of the glove, said flap overlapping the back part for a limited distance above and below the base line of the index finger and for a substantial portion of the width of the index finger, the edge of the front part being located adjacent the side of the glove in the body below the flap and throughout the length of the upper portion of the index finger above the flap, and stitching joining the front and :back parts extending along the edge of the flap and the edge of the front part below and above the flap.

4. A eombination work glove having a leather &front part and a cloth back part forming a glove body and an index finger extending upwardly from the body, a leather reinfo' cing flap integral with the front part at an intermediate area of its length `and projecting laterally inwardly g beyond the side of the glove, said flap overlapping the back .part for a limited distance above 'and below the base line of the index finger :and &for a substantial portion of the width of the in- ;dex finger, the edge of the front part .being located adjacent the side of the glove in the body below the fla-p and at an intermediate area of the index finger .above the flap, a further leather reinfocing flap vertically spa ced above the first flap integral with the front part at the u-pper end of the index finger and projecting laterally inwardly beyond the side of the glove, said second flap overlapping the back part in the rear tip area of the index finger, and stitching joining the front and .back parts extending along the edge of the :front .part below the first flap, along the edge of the first flap, along the edge of the front part between the two fiaps and along the edge of the second flap.

i WILLIAM 0. WELLS, JR.

ARTHUR H. MASON. 

